Category Archives: Horizontal Fracking

I heard Sandra Steingraber speak today at Women and the Environment hosted by WMEAC. Despite what you hear horizontal fracking has not been around for years and there are way too many unknowns as well as issues that have already been identified as problems to allow this to happen. Besides all of the human health and environmental issues which to me are the most important, property values will decline (they already are in areas where fracking is happening). Also do not belie…ve the reason that some use to justify that it will help us become independent of foreign oil, the expectation is that natural gas will be sold and exported for higher prices in Europe, China and the like. It will not help the U.S. only those large corporations that will be extracting and selling.

My other thought here in Michigan and the activity that is going on with fracking and the focus on the Muskegon port development – my gut tells me that we are a target for natural gas export port.

I’ll share more as I learn more. I will share just a few things today –

1) silica sand is used in the process – just Google the dangers of silica sand to human health.

2) Only 1% of the earth’s fresh water is available for human consumption, 20% of that resides in the Great Lakes. While industry and even the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has been claiming that each horizontal frack well uses about 5 million gallons of water, we now know from recent reports from the industry itself that Michigan’s frack wells are using way more than that—as much as 16 to 21 million gallons “per frack.” One well pad used 42 million gallons. See: “Michigan’s 21-Gallon Frack Job: A National Record?” at www.banmichiganfracking.org.

3) Then there is the issue of waste water created from fracking. There is absolutely no technology today available to restore that water back to potable water that can be used by humans. The state of Ohio has become a dumping site for toxic water from this process. Just this week I saw an article where someone is proposed that this be used for road construction materials. It seems that those involved in pro fracking think that the general public is stupid and that they can move things along quickly before anyone realizes what is happening.

Read Sandra’s blog post. Educate yourself. There should be nothing political about this issue – it is common sense when you read about the science of the process and the dangers and for what, cheap gas that will be exported to benefit a few, not you, not your local communities or the U.S. . Are we going to allow this in Michigan? Two years ago there were 2 permitted wells in Michigan – today there are 53. We must stop this. See More